Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act
Sponsored By: Senator Tammy Baldwin
Introduced
Summary
Prevent workplace violence against health care and social service workers. The bill would require a federal OSHA workplace-violence prevention standard that forces covered employers to build facility-specific prevention plans, run training, keep incident logs, and report violence data to the Department of Labor and Congress.
Show full summary
- Health care and social service workers would get required annual training, anti-retaliation protections for reporting incidents, access to plan records, and meaningful participation in creating and updating prevention plans.
- Covered employers would have to develop, implement, and maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan for each facility within 6 months of the interim standard. They would also conduct prompt incident investigations, prepare annual summaries, and keep plan and incident records for 5 years.
- The rule would apply broadly to hospitals, nursing homes, community clinics, psychiatric and substance use treatment centers, home health and emergency transport services, correctional facility clinics, and other sites the Secretary designates. It would also extend the standard to Medicare-funded hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that fall outside traditional OSHA coverage.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 7 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Medicare providers must follow standard
If enacted, the bill would require hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that are not covered by OSHA to comply with the workplace violence prevention standard. The rule would apply to Medicare‑participating providers and noncompliance could trigger Medicare enforcement actions. This Medicare requirement would begin one year after the interim standard is issued. The change would extend enforceable protections to facilities that previously fell outside OSHA coverage.
Employers must have violence plans
If enacted, the bill would require each covered employer to adopt a written workplace violence prevention plan for each facility or service within 6 months after the interim standard. Plans would be tailored to local hazards and made with meaningful input from direct care employees. Plans would name a responsible person, require risk assessments and hazard controls, set reporting and investigation procedures, include emergency response steps, and require timely correction of hazards.
Which workers and services are covered
If enacted, the bill would define which facilities, services, employers, and workers are covered. Covered facilities would include hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, psychiatric and substance use treatment centers, freestanding emergency centers, correctional medical clinics, and other Secretary-designated sites. Covered services would include home health, home hospice, emergency services and transport, and some Federal services, while child day care would be excluded. Covered employers would include contractors and temporary staffing firms, but not private household employers who hire a caregiver for a family.
Workplace violence rule timeline
If enacted, the bill would require the Labor Secretary to issue an interim workplace violence standard within 1 year. The interim standard would take effect within 30 days of issuance and may phase in engineering controls. A proposed rule would be due within 2 years and a final rule within 42 months. The Secretary could give up to 1 year of technical help to employers. If no interim standard appears in 1 year, the bill's rules would operate and be enforced like an OSHA section 6(b) standard until an IFS is issued.
Employees keep existing rights
If enacted, the bill would make clear it does not remove other legal rights for workers. Rights under the title would be in addition to Federal, State, or union protections. Workers could still report violent incidents to police. The bill would not limit protections for domestic violence, stalking, dating violence, or sexual assault.
Incident logs and record access
If enacted, the bill would require employers to keep a violent incident log for each facility and service and to retain plan and investigation records for at least 5 years. The Secretary would provide a log template within 1 year of the interim standard. Employers would update the log within 7 days of an incident and let employees and their representatives examine and copy records consistent with privacy rules. Copies must omit identifying information about alleged perpetrators.
Required training for workers and supervisors
If enacted, the bill would require employers to train covered employees about the prevention plan, hazards, controls, reporting, response, and anti‑retaliation rights. New employees would get training before they start their job. Supervisors would get additional hazard‑recognition training. Training must be in person in the first year and fit employees' language and literacy needs; later annual training may use live video only if in‑person is impracticable.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Tammy Baldwin
WI • D
Cosponsors
Edward Markey
MA • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Timothy Kaine
VA • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Jeanne Shaheen
NH • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Amy Klobuchar
MN • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Alex Padilla
CA • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Tina Smith
MN • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Richard Blumenthal
CT • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Patty Murray
WA • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Bernie Sanders
VT • I
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Elissa Slotkin
MI • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Elizabeth Warren
MA • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Catherine Cortez Masto
NV • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Jeff Merkley
OR • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
John Reed
RI • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
John Hickenlooper
CO • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Tammy Duckworth
IL • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Christopher Coons
DE • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Chris Van Hollen
MD • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Martin Heinrich
NM • D
Sponsored 4/1/2025
Michael Bennet
CO • D
Sponsored 4/28/2025
Kirsten Gillibrand
NY • D
Sponsored 4/30/2025
Brian Schatz
HI • D
Sponsored 5/7/2025
Raphael Warnock
GA • D
Sponsored 6/3/2025
Richard Durbin
IL • D
Sponsored 6/11/2025
John Fetterman
PA • D
Sponsored 7/9/2025
Angela Alsobrooks
MD • D
Sponsored 7/22/2025
Gary Peters
MI • D
Sponsored 7/28/2025
Andy Kim
NJ • D
Sponsored 7/28/2025
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 9/2/2025
Cory Booker
NJ • D
Sponsored 1/12/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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